Questions, Reasons, Answers
by serenadreams
Summary: After Stefan does the unthinkable, Damon helps Elena overcome her fears, while working to uncover the mystery surrounding his brother. Delena. prompt. (abandoned, sorry!)
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

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><p>I came out of the bathroom in my pajamas, I brushed my hair up into a ponytail and yawned, I was exhausted. I moved towards my bed, my eyes already half closed.<p>

I whirled around when I felt a gust of wind in my bedroom; I was relieved to see Stefan lounging against the window frame. He smiled at me and I went over to him, kissing him softly on the lips.

"Hi." I murmured.

He smiled.

"Hello Elena."

A flicker of something I couldn't recognize flashed across his face and I looked at him questioningly.

"Stefan, are you ok?" I asked, unease curling in the pit of my stomach.

"I'm sorry." He whispered.

I frowned, what the hell was he on about?

"For what?" I asked.

"This." He said as his fist collided with my stomach, sending me sprawling across the room.

I gasped in shock and pain as I hit the wall. I struggled to get up and was knocked down again by a sharp blow across my face. I clutched my cheek and gazed up at him, tears pooling in my eyes.

"Why?" I whispered.

"Because I have to. I have to hurt you." Stefan said, as if repeating lines he had learnt.

My heart broke at his words, where was my Stefan? My loving, oversensitive Stefan had been replaced by something unrecognizable.

As his fangs extended I realized in horror that I was alone in the house.

"Stefan, please! It's me, it's Elena." I begged.

"I have to hurt you." He repeated.

He shoved me back against the wall, my head hitting it hard. He grabbed my hands and yanked them above my head, I screamed in agony as one of my wrists broke.

"Please stop, Stefan you're hurting me!" I moaned.

He ignored my cries and shoved his knee between my legs, causing me to gasp in pain.

He didn't bite me, and I didn't understand why.

I grappled uselessly at his arms trying in vain to pull him off me; he was far too strong. I didn't stand a chance against him but I already knew that, I had learnt that when he had been on human blood last year…was he on human blood now? Was that why he was doing this?

I didn't understand, I couldn't make sense of what was going on, my head was pounding and I felt something sticky drip down my forehead. I realized with a sickening feeling that it was blood.

I finally passed out and I embraced the impending darkness, desperate to escape this nightmare that had somehow materialized into reality.

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><p>When I opened my eyes it was to find Stefan's hazel ones staring into mine. I flinched away from our proximity, the memories of the horrific things he had done to me flashing through my mind.<p>

He grabbed my head and pulled my face up to look at him. He stared into my eyes and I watched as his pupils dilated. I realized in horror what he was doing and reached for my necklace, finding it missing, I cursed myself for not drinking vervain. Ironically the reason I had never done that was so that if we were ever in a life or death situation, I would be able to help Stefan and Damon.

Now it seemed my love and concern for my boyfriend was going to be my downfall…what was I talking about? It had already been my downfall; I was covered in bruises and blood and hurt from every part of my body.

I tried to avert my gaze but somehow I couldn't force my eyes to leave his as he whispered the words.

"You will not tell anybody who did this to you."

I repeated the words and then he was gone, leaving me alone and broken in my bedroom.

The only thing worse than the physical pain was the heartbreak and betrayal I felt. What had I done to deserve this?

I wondered vaguely why he hadn't compelled me to forget that any of this had ever happened…instead I was left with vivid memories, I knew he had compelled me not to tell anybody, he hadn't bothered to take that memory either.

But to my surprise, my desire to tell someone was still there…so what had he done? Had he taken away my physical ability to say the words? I grabbed a pen and paper from my desk, ignoring the shooting pain in my left wrist.

I gingerly clutched at the paper and began to write.

_Stefan…_

I tried to write what he had done to me but I couldn't, it was like my brain was refusing to tell my hand to move, however much I pushed there was something forcing me to keep my hand still. I cried out in frustration and threw the paper away.

I stood up carefully and then doubled over in agony. Pain was coursing through my body and I sagged back against the wall. I began to cough violently and was terrified to see spatters of red covering my hands; I needed help.

I thought about my options; I could do what I always did when I was in trouble; call Damon…but the only thing he could do to help is give me his blood, and I didn't think I could handle turning into a vampire right now.

I could just crawl into bed and close my eyes, that sounded very inviting but I wasn't stupid. I knew that I shouldn't go to sleep before I was absolutely certain I would wake up again.

I did the only thing I could think of, the thing that every other seventeen-year-old girl in trouble does. I called 911. I hated hospitals and I knew that this was going to be humiliating but I could feel my grasp on consciousness slipping away and if I was being honest I was really worried. I mean I could have internal bleeding or something.

"911 what is your emergency?" The efficient voice came over the line.

I took a deep breath and tried not to gag at the taste of blood in my mouth.

"I think I need an ambulance." I whispered weakly before I passed out again, the phone slipping from my fingers.

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><p><strong>This is a request! Not sure where I will take this story... but be sure to let me know what you think :)<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

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><p><em>General<em>

"Can you hear me?"

Beep. Beep. Beep.

"Focus on my voice, can you hear me?"

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Elena struggled back into consciousness.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Her eyes felt heavy.

When she managed to crack her lids open, the blurring figures around her were disorientating. She tried to focus and picked out a face peering down at her.

She blinked a few times, trying to clear her vision; it was a nurse. She must be in the hospital then.

"Good you're awake, what's your name sweetie?" The nurse asked.

"Elena." She whispered.

"Is there someone you can call?"

She tried to push past the fogginess in her mind.

"Damon, call Damon." She said groggily.

The nurse grabbed a pen and paper and asked for the number.

Usually Elena could recite both of the Salvatore's number's off by heart without even thinking about it but now she struggled to get the numbers to make sense as they swirled around her jumbled brain.

Finally she managed to get them into the right order and the nurse disappeared. Left alone, she slipped back into a heavy slumber.

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><p>Damon sighed and pulled the phone out of his pocket. He wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone right now. He had had a crappy day, not that that was out of the ordinary.<p>

He looked at the screen and frowned at the number…he recognized it. With a slow sinking feeling he realized that it was the number at the hospital. He quickly picked up.

"Damon Salvatore, how can I help you?" He asked.

A woman's voice came over the line.

"Mystic Falls General. I'm sorry to bother you. Do you know an Elena?" She inquired.

Damon stood up, his glass of scotch falling to the floor unnoticed.

He felt ill, he had dreamt about getting a phone call like this. Well, dream is a loose term, it had been a nightmare; the voice on the other end of the line telling him that there'd been an accident and Elena hadn't made it.

He swallowed thickly.

"What happened, is she ok?" He asked, trying to hide the panic in his voice.

"She's going to be fine, she's been asking for you. If you could come in, we need to ask a few questions."

"Yeah, of course. I'll be there in a minute." He said quickly, already half way out the door.

Damon reached the hospital in record time, his mind desperately trying to prepare his heart for the worst.

He ran up to the reception the minute he arrived.

"Elena Gilbert?" He asked.

A passing nurse heard him.

"Are you Damon?" she asked.

He turned and nodded.

"If you could come with me?"

He followed the nurse into a small office. She shuffled through some papers.

Damon fidgeted by the door.

"We have no information on Elena other than her first name. I'm assuming you can help us there?" the nurse handed him a form.

He quickly scribbled down Elena's name, birthday and phone numbers.

"What happened? Can I see her?" He asked.

The nurse sighed.

"Are you related to Elena in any way? She's a minor, we can't release this information unless…"

Damon thought fast.

"I'm her fiancé." He said, snickering internally at how much that lie would irritate Elena.

The nurse raised her eyebrows but nodded.

"We responded to a 911 call from Elena's house. We found her…unconscious."

Damon sat down feeling dizzy. If he had just gone to Elena's house last night like he usually did…

"We brought her in and she had to have immediate surgery; she had internal bleeding. She has a broken wrist, three broken ribs..." She broke off when she saw Damon's devastated face.

"Oh god Elena." he whispered.

The nurse sighed.

"There's something else." She hesitated.

Damon waited, wondering what the hell could be worse than what he had already heard.

"It looks like domestic violence, she's covered in bruises. And there's evidence of…sexual abuse."

Damon's head snapped up, his mind reeling.

The nurse looked at him awkwardly.

"I'm going to have to ask you a few questions…" She said.

Damon glared at her.

"Surely you don't think that I did this to her." He said angrily.

"Personally, no. Legally, I have to ask."

He sighed.

"Look, I would never hurt her. And I don't know who would." He said sincerely.

The nurse nodded.

"We are going to have to call her legal guardian. Do you know the number?" She asked.

Damon scribbled it down and asked impatiently to see Elena.

The nurse led the way down a corridor and pushed the door to a ward open.

"Elena honey, Damon's here." She said softly.

There was no response.

"She's been drifting in and out of consciousness but she's stable… I'll give you some time."

The nurse left and Damon walked into the small room.

She was lying awkwardly on the bed, her dark hair fanned around her face. There was a shadow of a bruise across her cheekbone and her eyes were swollen and tired. Damon was unnerved by how painful the sight of her, so fragile and broken, was.

He pulled up a chair and sat by her bed.

Elena's eyelids fluttered open and she gazed blurrily around.

"Damon?" She murmured.

He brushed her hair off her face and trailed his fingertips lightly over her bruised cheek.

"I'm here." He whispered.

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><p><strong>(Request) I don't feel particularly inspired by this story... So let me know if I should continue or not!<strong>

**I know I have a lot of songfic requests to catch up on, I am working on them now :) **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_General _

Elena stared up at his concerned face, a ghost of a smile crossing her lips. Damon stroked her face and shook his head.

"Who did this to you kitten?" He asked softly, his voice breaking slightly.

Elena looked away.

"I don't remember." She answered quickly.

Damon frowned.

"Do you remember anything that…that happened?" He asked.

Elena knew what he was getting at, she sighed.

"Yes, I remember. I just…I didn't recognize the person." She said softly.

In a way it was true, she hadn't recognized the monster that had come into her room last night. She hadn't recognized the person who had done those horrific things to her, who had violated her and hurt her in every possible way.

Damon brushed his lips in a feather light kiss to her forehead.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered.

She reached for his hand and held it tight.

"Will you stay with me?" She murmured.

He gave her a sad smile.

"I'm not going anywhere. But we should call Stefan. Let him know what happened." He said softly.

Elena shook her head violently, making her wince in pain. She tried to sit up and agony shot through her chest. Damon was instantly hovering over her, gently pushing her back down into the pillows.

"You've got to stay still sweetheart." He murmured.

She looked at him desperately.

"Just please…don't call Stefan ok?" She begged.

He frowned but nodded.

"Ok." He said quietly.

She smiled at him gratefully.

He sat back down in the chair by her bed and stroked his thumb in soft circles over the palm of her hand.

As Elena felt her eyes grow heavy, she tightened her hold on Damon and looked up at him beseechingly.

"Will you lie with me? When I'm alone I see things I don't want to see." She said in a tiny voice.

He nodded.

She shifted to the side of the bed to make room for him and he lay down, careful not to jostle her. She curled into his chest and he held her close, never wanting to let go, never wanting to let her out of his sight again.

She drifted to sleep and he stayed with her, compelling the nurse not to bother them. Thoughts about who had done this to her, and what he would do to them when he found them swirled around his mind. He cursed himself for not being there, he wondered what he had been doing at the same time as Elena was being used as a punch bag. How could he have been so unaware of the pain she was in?

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><p>Elena woke a few hours later. She was alone in the bed and someone was whispering near by. She looked around and saw Jenna talking quietly to a nurse.<p>

"Elena." Jenna gasped, noticing that she was awake.

"How are you feeling?"

Elena gave her a small smile.

"I'm fine, don't worry." She replied softly.

She looked around the small room again, searching for the person she wanted to see.

"Where's Damon?" She asked.

"He went to get something to eat when we arrived." Jenna said.

Elena frowned.

"We?"

"Jeremy's here…I think he went with Damon though." She explained.

Elena nodded.

Jenna sat down by her bed.

"Elena…what happened?" She asked quietly.

She avoided her aunt's gaze.

"I don't really remember. I think it was just a random attack…I forgot to lock the front door." She said, desperately scrabbling for a story.

Jenna wiped a tear from her eye.

"I'm so sorry sweetheart."

Elena shrugged.

"Like I said, I don't really remember." She lied.

At that moment Damon and Jeremy walked in, saving her from more excuses.

"Lena, you're awake." Jeremy said with a smile.

She rolled her eyes.

"Talk about stating the obvious."

Jeremy chuckled.

Elena appreciated the change of subject and the light banter was taking her mind off things. She gave her brother a grateful smile and he nodded, understanding.

"You know Damon told the nurses he was your fiancé?" He snorted.

Elena stared at Damon confused.

Jenna's eyes flew to hers.

"Elena, please tell me you're not marrying Damon." She groaned.

Damon tried not to laugh.

"It was the only way they would let me see her, unless I said we were related…but that thought kind of creeped me out." He defended.

Elena rolled her eyes and Jenna breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well _fiancé, _would you be a doll and get me some water?" She teased.

He glared at her and she giggled.

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><p><strong>Ok I know this is really bad and random... Feel free to leave me ideas of where this story should go, and what you want to happen etc! Happily accepting advice on this one ;) <strong>


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